NAPHL announces schedule for 2017 Dixon Cup Championship
The North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) has announced the schedule for the 2017 Dixon Cup Championship, which will be played February 17-20 at the Troy Sports Center in Troy, Michigan (18U and 16U) and Fraser Hockeyland in Fraser, Michigan (15U). All NAPHL teams will compete in the event, with Championships being decided in the Gold (Championship) and Silver (Consolation) Divisions. All five NAPHL Championship games will be played on Monday morning, February 20th at the Troy Sports Center.
The top 10 teams from each of the NAPHL 18U and the 16U divisions qualified for the Gold Division of the playoffs. The remainder of the teams will compete in the Silver Division for the Consolation Championship. In the 15U Division, all nine teams will compete for the Championship. Last season, the Madison Capitols won the 18U Championship, while the Omaha AAA Hockey Club won the 16U title. This is the first season the NAPHL will award a 15U Champion.
“With 44 teams involved in playoffs, building a proper and balanced schedule for all teams and divisions was a very deliberate process, especially with elimination games coming into the equation on Sunday,” said NAPHL Director Lucas Trombetta. “We will use the IIHF point system in the round-robin portion of the tournament in order to more closely mirror the USA Hockey National Championship in terms of tournament procedures and point accumulation. Additionally, each team's playoff opponents were based on the 2016-17 regular season standings so that the top performing teams throughout the 22-game regular season were rewarded for their consistency at each event throughout the year. The last team standing at the end of this great event will have definitely earned the right to be called Dixon Cup Champions.”
All games will be broadcast live on HockeyTV
Back in 2015, the NAPHL renamed its Championship Trophies at each level the Dixon Cup. The Dixon Cup is named after Dean Dixon, longtime coach of the NAPHL’s Lansing Capitals, one of the founding members of the NAPHL. In the Summer of 2013, Dixon was diagnosed with brain cancer. Even though the tumor was thought to be inoperable, it was successfully removed and Dean continued his fight through radiation and chemotherapy. On March 17, 2014, Dixon ultimately lost his battle with the disease, but his influence and legacy on the Capitals program and the NAPHL is something that will never be forgotten.
“Dean was a tremendous person, a champion for his players and a founding father of the NAPHL and because of the impact he had on all of us, we feel that honoring his memory in this fashion each season is a way to remind people of his influence on the NAPHL,” said NAHL Commissioner and President Mark Frankenfeld.
Past Dixon Cup Champions
2016: 18U-Madison Capitols, 16U-Omaha AAA
2015: 18U-New Jersey Jr. Titans, 16U-Omaha AAA
2014: 18U-Omaha AAA, 16U-Lansing Capitals
2013: 18U-Indiana Jr. Ice, 16U-Omaha AAA
2012: 18U-California Titans, 16U-Indiana Jr. Ice, 14U-St. Louis Selects
2011: 18U-DC Capitals, 16U-Pikes Peak Miners, 14U-Rocky Mountain RoughRiders
2010: 18U-California Titans, 16U-Pikes Peak Miners
